Aqua Orbs
by SherlocksViolin
Summary: McCoy finds himself falling for the part-Vulcan Head Geoscientist, Chekhov gets a bit upset about it, and a few adventures entangle the crew. I wrote this originally as a chemistry project which you may notice and elaborated on it
1. Chapter 1: An Incident of Acids

"That's right Flynn, bring it down here with you, and never mind what I want it for, I just want it! I'll explain it to you when you beam down. Now move!"

Dr McCoy flipped the communicator shut, annoyed. Spock was muttering the thoughts of the silicon being before him through his mind meld, and the doctor watched, thinking to himself.

He was a doctor, not a bricklayer. However, he did have a few ideas of how to fix this living rock…creature….thing. He had called down Maewyn Aidan Flynn not only because she was the Head Geoscientist of the ship, but also because she usually had enough sense to be as logical as Spock in these type of situations, only without the Vulcan's tendency to contradict everything Dr. McCoy said. Besides, it was always nice to have her near him as he worked, and he knew this creature would fascinate her. He looked up to see the faint outline of Maewyn as she materialized.

Maewyn Aidan Flynn, Head Geoscientist of the starship enterprise, was one of the ablest crewmembers aboard. Once, when the ship's power gave out she had completed work outside of the starship while Scotty worked on the inside, which had prevented an explosion. Dr. McCoy smiled, thinking to himself, she was stunningly beautiful. He watched as her perfect hourglass silhouette of shimmering particles solidified and she stood before him.

Maewyn smiled at Dr. McCoy, tossing her auburn hair out of her strikingly green eyes, and glanced at damaged reddish boulder he seemed to be leaning against.

"So, you asked me to bring this down so that you could mend a broken rock formation?" She asked grinning. Then she started back as the Horta moved slightly.

"What in the name of…? What is this thing?" She quickly regained her composure as Dr. McCoy grabbed the bucket of thermal concrete out of her hands.

"It's a Horta." He said simply as he began to apply the concrete to the damaged flesh of the silicon creature. He glanced over to see that she had that look in her eye, the look she got whenever they discovered something new and unheard of before, that she could be the first scientist to examine and study it. The look was inquisitive and curious, a look of complete pleasure and delight. Dr. McCoy loved to see that look in her eye, as he turned away, she took her tricorder out and began to run scans of the Horta.

Captain Kirk came up from behind Maewyn and laid a hand on her shoulder, holding what looked like a broken piece of a hollow silicon sphere. Kirk began to explain all that had happened and all that they had found out, and as Maewyn pieced things together in her mind she came to the conclusion that the object that he held in his hand was a fragment of a Horta egg that the miners had destroyed. This creature, a living rock, fascinated her, a geological oddity that had never been seen anywhere in space. The things that Mr. Spock had discovered through his mind meld with the creature were more illuminating evidence for this creature's life and ways than could ever be discovered by conventional means.

Kirk finished explaining and retrieved Spock from his state of mind meld with the Horta to discuss the eggs that he had found. At that moment, the miners came blasting in, ready to kill the Horta on sight. Maewyn and Spock drew their phasers quickly until the Captain got the miners to calm down enough to explain things to them. Then, Dr. McCoy having healed the Horta, and the miners having agreed to live on peaceful terms with the silicon creatures, the Enterprise crew beamed back to the ship.

Maewyn had collected a piece of the Horta's flesh in a specimen jar in her shoulder bag lab kit, along with pieces of the eggs as well. As she materialized on the ship, she was eager to get to testing them.

Dr. McCoy looked down at her hands squinting, and then he grabbed her hand as she stepped off the platform. Maewyn turned quickly, looking inquisitively into his eyes.

"Flynn, when was the last time you got some sleep?"

"How should I know…Why?"

Dr. McCoy let her hand rest facing upwards in the palm of his hand, her hand was shaking in spasms. He looked at her, concerned.

"You should wait until tomorrow to do those tests, you aren't lucid enough to perform those tests accurately or safely at the moment."

"I'll be fine, I can't wait until later. This is important!" She turned to leave, and tripped.

Dr. McCoy caught her in his arms with surprise. "See, you'll have to wait till tomorrow…I…" He found himself looking into her eyes, just inches away. Finding himself hesitant to release her from the accidental embrace, he asked

"You won't do those tests tonight will you, you'll wait until tomorrow?"

Maewyn smiled weakly, "All right, you're the doctor." After pausing thoughtfully for a moment, she abruptly kissed him on the cheek and fled.

For a moment he stood still, lifting his finger to his cheek stunned, and then smiling contentedly, he departed to prepare for a good night's rest.

However, Maewyn, with her headstrong spirit, went directly to her lab. Getting on her lab gear, she placed a piece of the Horta flesh into a test tube and placed that into a centrifuge where the acid secreting glands were separated from the rest of the silicon. Once separated, she began to agitate them into secreting the acid, until she had a test tube full. Maewyn stared at the pale blue acid, which she now held up to the light. To help her find the concentration and therein the PH of the acid, she poured some into a cuvette and put that into a colorimeter. While the colorimeter was calibrating she decided to dilute the acid. She filled a beaker with 10ml of acid, and proceeded to pour 50ml of water into the beaker.

Leonard McCoy was startled from his sleep by alarm sirens and flashing lights. Kirk was calling the communicator on his bedside table; he pushed the button that answered it.

"Yes, what is it Jim?"

"There was an explosion in one of the labs."

"How many were hurt?"

"Fortunately there was only one person in the lab at the time…unfortunately…"

"Oh no…."

"…...unfortunately it was Maewyn."

"I'm on my way to sickbay immediately, Jim."

Jumping out of bed and throwing on his uniform, he practically ran to sickbay.

When he arrived, Sulu and Chekhov were just arriving with Maewyn on a stretcher. They had been in one of the adjacent botany labs when the explosion had occurred and had set off the alarm. When they ran into the lab, they had found Maewyn soaked in acid and boiling water, which they had quickly washed off with the emergency shower. After hearing a brief account from Sulu and Chekhov, Leonard turned his attention to Maewyn. Her skin was pink from the acid and boiling water, it was lucky that Sulu and Chekhov had quickly washed it off or there would have been worse damage. A large shard of a glass beaker was protruding from her shoulder, and where safety glasses had not protected her face there were scratches and cuts. She opened her eyes slightly, looking up at him, and smiled softly.

"I should have listened to you, I'm sorry." She whispered weakly.

"You knew that you were too tired to attempt anything like this. Why did you...what happened?"

"I forgot the principle rule of diluting acids."

"And what is that?"

"Never EVER add water to an acid, only add acid to water"

He had lifted her off the stretcher and onto a cot; she winced as her shoulder bent slightly and let out a gasp of pain.

"I'm going to have to take this out now….here's a shot of painkiller" He injected the solution into her arm, and shot a numbing solution into her shoulder. "You won't feel a thing!" His smile was pained.

Maewyn half smiled and closed her eyes. He began to work on her arm. In no time, he had repaired her shoulder and healed the cuts on her face. The pink acid burn on her skin was beginning to get fainter.

He sat next to her bed uneasily watching her sleep. A few times, Maewyn woke and tossed around, then seeing Dr. McCoy beside her she would smile at him and close her eyes, drifting back to sleep once more.


	2. Chapter 2: Breakfast and a Kiss

So, chapter one was basically a simple introduction of characters and setting. It will get more interesting and detailed as the story progresses. I was waiting to put up this chapter until someone left a review on chapter one. I only got one review, so that is why chapter two took so long, the more reviews I get the faster the chapters go up.

* * *

The next day Maewyn woke up feeling much better than she had when she had gone to sleep. Shifting slightly she felt a slight weight by her side, this with further observation proved to be the sleeping Dr. McCoy; he had fallen asleep with his head resting on his crossed arms on the bed. Smiling, Maewyn reached down and ran her fingers through his silky dark brown hair, noticing a few strands of gray.

Dr McCoy slowly opened his eyes, blinking, and upon seeing Maewyn awake, he smiled. He took her hand in his and asked her

"Are you feeling all right?"

"Yes, much better thanks to you."

"Don't you ever do something like that again."

"Believe me, I won't. Next time, I'll listen."

She pulled herself up into a sitting position, and he perched on the edge of the bed.

"What would you like for breakfast?"

She thought for a moment. "What are you having?"

"Sausage gravy over biscuits"

"Sounds good to me." She laughed as he raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Alright, I'll be right back."

He stood and hurried down to the mess hall. Once there he encountered Chekhov and Sulu, who enquired about Maewyn. He told them that she was recovering swiftly and that they could stop by sickbay later if they wished to see her. He synthesized up some sausage gravy and biscuits and returned to sickbay. When he got there, he saw that Maewyn had thrown off the thermal blanket and was inspecting her toes, just staring at them wiggling. She looked up and grinned when she heard Dr. McCoy come in.

"Mmmmmm, that smells delicious!"

He placed the trays on the table in his office and helped Maewyn from her bed to a chair at the table. She devoured the food voraciously and then sat back, satisfied.

She studied Dr. McCoy as he finished eating, contemplating. He really was quite handsome; his intelligent eyes were stunningly blue. His hands were sure and steady, skilled surgeons hands. How she longed have his arms around her once more. His accidental embrace last night had motivated her to kiss his cheek, but how he had reacted to that, she had no idea. She had run away, completely unwilling to witness the outcome of that event, because she feared that he might not return her affections. So far, he had acted as if nothing had happened, the same way he acted towards her everyday. He did seem a little more anxious about her condition than was customary, but that was all.

As if reading her thoughts Dr. McCoy looked up from his finished meal, and after taking a drink of water, asked,

"How's your shoulder?"

"Fine" she said rolling her shoulders back, nothing hurt, he had completely mended the injury and it had healed perfectly.

Dr. McCoy watched as she tested her shoulder. Look at how graceful she was, like a cat. He was glad that she was not one of those girls who were practically anorexic; there were plenty of those in the service. She was perfectly proportioned, with the face of a 1950's movie star. Her lips were a perfect cupid's bow, and her eyes were the green of pine needles. His eyes remained on her lips, curled slightly into a smile.

Why was he staring at her? Maewyn wondered as she slowly got to her feet and began to stack up the plates and trays from breakfast. He made no move to stop her, he simply watched her.

"You should stay in the sickbay for a few days, so that you don't have a relapse." Dr. McCoy abruptly stated.

"Why? I feel fine right now. I don't think that I could possibly have a relapse from a shoulder injury, it wasn't as if it were a virus or a bacterial disease." She said, a bit annoyed that he would keep her from her work.

Dr. McCoy had risen from his seat, and Maewyn had pointedly placed the neat stack of dishes on the table and was now standing with her hands on her hips.

"Because Maewyn, I happen to be a doctor and I happen to have the opinion that a short stay in sickbay would be conducive to the prevention of another incident. I also happen to remember you saying that you would listen to me next time I suggested that you not do something."

Maewyn was beginning to feel a bit lightheaded and dizzy, it must be because she had stood up so quickly, apparently she wasn't as well as she had thought. However, she would not give up that easily.

"What are you insinuating?" she said, frustrated.

Dr. McCoy waved his arms exasperatingly "I am telling you…!"

He never got to finish because at that moment Maewyn slightly lost her balance and tripped forward into his outstretched arms.

Dr. McCoy felt Maewyn's body brush against his as he gazed into her eyes; she stared unflinchingly back nervously licking her lips. Hesitating for a moment, he tilted his head and kissed her gently on the lips, feeling no resistance he placed his hand on her lower back gently pressing her closer. She began to respond, slightly opening her mouth and kissing him back, running her fingers through his soft hair.

"Erm….are ve interrupting somezink?" the thick Russian accent of a clearly discomfited Chekhov startled both of them.

They turned scarlet faces towards Chekov and Sulu, who were standing in the doorway obviously embarrassed by their accidental intrusion. Sulu was nervously rubbing his neck with a slight smirk on his lips, and Chekhov looked slightly shocked with his cheeks flushed pink.

"Oh, hello Chekhov, Sulu" Maewyn smiled as her face slowly returned to its normal hue. She began to talk and ask them how things were going with lab repairs after her unfortunate mishap yesterday, until the atmosphere became completely devoid of uneasiness and returned to normal.

Chekhov and Sulu soon left after wishing Maewyn a quick recovery, and giving a few meaningful glances and winks to Dr. McCoy.


	3. Chapter 3: Russian Romance

Thank you for the great reviews! This is just a random little chapter, and I hope you all will enjoy it!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Can you believe it?" Sulu declared as he walked back to the labs with Chekov.

"I know! Out of all de people, Dr. McCoy. "

"And all this time every man in the ship has been vying for her"

"True, true." Chekov sighed.

"I don't think Maewyn would be very happy with us if we told everyone."

"Yes, I vouldnt vant her to be angry with us. She is such a vunderful person after all." Chekov sighed again pointedly.

Sulu stopped and looked at him quizzically.

"Vat?" Pavel grimaced, but it was too late.

"You are very good friends with her, aren't you?"

"Vel, of course. Aren't you?" Pavel glared at him.

"Hm…yes, of course."

He turned and began walking again in silence. Chekov followed behind, his ears burning.

Why did Hikaru always know exactly what he was thinking? Of course he loved Maewyn, more than any other woman he had met in his life. Perhaps it was just the way she moved, or that sprinkling of dark blue freckles across the bridge of her nose. Maybe it was the fact that every time he saw her it sent shivers up his spine, or the way her voice was like drops of crystal rain. Everything about her was beautiful, from her looks to her mind. Pavel remembered how on his birthday Maewyn had given him one of her treasures she had accumulated, a real paper book. It was a collection of short stories written by a Russian author in the late 19th century, Anton Chekov. She had said she thought he would enjoy the fact that Anton Chekov was the recognized creator of the short story. "There's at least on thing the Russians invented!" she had teased him. Faking insult Pavel had begun on a long list of what exactly (in his opinion) the Russians had invented. This made Maewyn absolutely giddy with laughter, until they both ended up in hysterics. They had spent the rest of the evening watching Dr. Zhivago with Hikaru until they all had ended up asleep in a pile on the floor. Pavel remembered waking up the next morning to Maewyn's smiling face less than 5 inches from his, his head resting on her hair. "I didn't want to wake either of you up" She had whispered, and at this point he had noticed that Sulu was lying across both their legs. "You just looked so darling asleep, I couldn't make myself wake you up". This comment had completely disarmed him and he had sat bolt upright knocking Hikaru awake. "WHAT? What? What?" Sulu had yelled after being so suddenly awoken. Maewyn had simply laughed.

Chekov tore himself away from his thoughts as he realized he had somehow wandered away from Sulu and was standing right outside the medical bay. He stared at the door for a few seconds before grunting angrily and stomping off to the labs.


	4. Chapter 4: Doctor's Orders

Dr. McCoy had retreated to his desk without a word and Maewyn was sitting quietly sipping a glass of acai juice that Chekov had brought her. It was fresh, courtesy of Sulu's genetically prolific palm in the botany lab. She glanced up at the doctor and her cheeks turned a light shade of blue. He glanced up as well, and quickly turned back to the screen, furiously pushing buttons. She smiled as she noticed his ears had turned scarlet.

Gently getting up from her seat she darted lightly across the room and perched daintily on the desk next to his computer. He glanced at her and his face turned slightly rosier than his normal hue. She shifted slightly peeking at the screen he was so fixedly staring at. It turned out to be a few numbers and letters sporadically scattered across a document, with no particular meaning.

As she leaned closer towards him to get a better look at the screen, her long red hair brushed his face and he shivered involuntarily. He shyly looked up into those shamrock eyes with a crooked grin.

"You're distracting me from my work" he said dryly.

"I would hardy call that mess 'work', doctor."

"Well, how do you know? It could be the cure for some yet undiscovered disease."

"I seriously doubt that hypothesis."

He laughed, "So do I."

Maewyn smiled, "Well doctor, am I well enough to leave sickbay for a bit?"

"Depends"

"On what?"

"Are you going to the lab?"

"I was planning on it, yes."

"Then no."

"Why doctor!" She exclaimed jumping up from the desk.

"Its only because I don't want you getting into any more trouble."

"I want to make sure everything in that lab is back in order!"

"I'm sure Chekhov and Sulu have it all under control."

"Its not their department. I am head of Geosciences and that lab is my department, my responsibility. You are impeding me in my duty, doctor!" she was beginning to become genuinely annoyed with him.

"Maewyn," he said softly as he rose from his seat and slowly walked toward her. She crossed her arms and pursed her lips, waiting. "Maewyn, I just want you to wait a little bit before you mess with anything to do with that lab. When I discharge you from sickbay you can do whatever you want, but right now you are under my care."

She sighed. "Fine. I suppose there's not much I can do about it now is there?"

"Nope"

She shrugged and turned to walk away.


	5. Chapter 5: Of Quartz and Fungi

_**Captain's Log **_

_**Stardate 3246.9**_

_**It has been one week since the incidents on Janus VI, and Lt. Flynn has recovered fully from her injuries. Everything is going well. We are now headed for an unexplored planet, Alpha XII. **_

_**Captain's Log Personal**_

_**Maewyn has now returned to her laboratory and continued her experiments concerning the Horta with her usual passion for discovery. Bones didn't seem very happy to give her a clean bill of health. I am almost positive that something has happened between him and Maewyn. Scotty told me he saw him smiling and whistling 'Loch Lomond' as he passed him on the way to the Mess Hall. It is a very rare occurrence for him to be in an overwhelmingly good mood, and extremely rare for him to show it outwardly. **_

* * *

**The Enterprise was now orbiting Alpha XII and the landing party was assembling in the transporter room. Maewyn stood with her equipment bag over her shoulder, discussing some of the fine details of the transporter functions with Scotty by the control panel. Spock and Dr. McCoy walked in arguing as usual.**

"**Spock, I don't care how infinitesimal the chances of a malfunction are, I just don't trust the damn thing" McCoy was grumbling.**

"**Doctor, I still don't understand your continuing phobia of the transporter. You have used it often enough." Spock stated with a raised eyebrow.**

"**Sure now Doctor McCoy, ya have me word that the transporter is runnin' perfectly. Flynn even double checked the systems with me. Now surely you can't be sayin' that with two people runnin' over the thing that it isn't safe." Scotty said with a bit of hurt that the doctor didn't trust the mechanics of his beloved ship. **

**Doctor McCoy raised an eyebrow, grumbled under his breath a bit and then sighed, moving to the opposite side of the room from Spock. He leaned against the wall, arms folded, eyes darting about the room. The door opened and Captain Kirk entered with Chekov and two other security personnel. Chekov shot the doctor a glare, which McCoy caught with a questioning glance. **

"**Ready Scotty?" Kirk glanced around the room with a little half smile spreading across his face. **

"**Ready to energize Captain."**

"**Landing party prepare to energize." **

**The landing party took their places on the transporter platform and they dematerialized into glittering molecules. Scotty sighed as the scanners registered that they had been successfully transported to the planet's surface. Another job well done, he thought as he went to the bridge. **

* * *

**The landing party found themselves surrounded by craggy mountain peaks, purple and glassy. The plants below their feet were fernlike but for their bright orange berries, and a few taller plants loomed above them. Both Maewyn and Spock had taken out their tricorders. **

"**Captain…" Maewyn looked startled**

"**What is it Flynn?"**

"**Those mountains…they're formed completely of amethyst, which would mean that it took over 50,000 years to form within the ground and then for them to be weathered like that! It must have taken at least a million years for the entire process!…"**

"**These tree-like organisms are not trees at all, they are a fungi, almost reminiscent of the morels of earth…" Spock began.**

**James Kirk waved his hands, "All right you two, on with your observation. Chekov you and Lieutenant Flynn head toward those mountains and have a look at them. Mr. Spock, you and Lough stay here and analyze these…giant mushrooms. Bones, you and Cheng come with me. If anything comes up anywhere, contact me. Check in every half hour."**

"**Oh thank you so much sir!" Maewyn gleefully grabbed the confused Chekov by the wrist and practically skipped away. Spock watched them go with a cocked eyebrow and a stern expression. Ensign Lough had already walked off toward the nearest mushroom, and Dr. McCoy stood a little way off from Kirk and Spock with Cheng, watching Maewyn leave with a worried grin. **

"**Fascinating. Although she has the logic of her Vulcan blood, she also refuses to control her emotions. However unlike your species she seems to be able to function logically, even with emotion." Spock remarked to Kirk**

"**She is part Aquarian too you know, they say they are a very optimistic race.", Kirk stated. **

"…**and remarkably attractive…that is in regard to one perspective of beauty."**

"**Hmm…yes. Well, you can figure her out later. To your mushrooms my good friend." Kirk laughed as Spock cocked an eyebrow, and walked off with Dr. McCoy and Ensign Cheng. **

* * *

**Pavel Chekov was not happy. He was trudging up to the slopes of a practically glass mountain with the one person he did not want to be alone with. Yet, he did want to be alone with her, only her, and have the rest of the world drift away, and leave them stranded on their own island of delight, never to think of anything again. He was so lost in thought that he did not notice Maewyn abruptly stop and kneel down to inspect a patch of perfectly formed crystals. Chekov walked right into her and nearly sent himself, and her, tumbling down the mountainside. **

"**Hey!" She said as she sat up, "What are you doing?"**

"**Nothing…I vas distracted." Chekov frowned, "Are you alright?"**

"**Yes…Well, let's get up to that outcrop up there!" She smiled enthusiastically and started making her way up the steepening slope. **

**Pavel sighed and trudged after her. Suddenly a loud blast rang out that echoed up and down the mountain, filling the air with a musical hum. He stopped dead and pulled out his phaser scanning the area. He looked up and saw Maewyn turn around with a look of shock and surprise, she moved her mouth to say something but nothing came out. She was holding her left arm, and suddenly she dropped to the ground with a gasp. On impulse, Chekov picked her up, threw her over his shoulder, and ran. She was extremely light, good thing too, he thought. Scanning the landscape he saw an opening in the rocks ahead. A blast much louder than the first rang out as a huge crater was blasted out a few meters behind him. Only a few more seconds and he would be at the opening. He ran as hard as he could, his breath coming in ragged gasps now as Maewyn began to feel a bit heavier than before. Another blast, closer this time, knocked him to the ground, sending shatters of sharp broken crystals into his back. Searing hot pain swept his body and he cried out. In a last burst of adrenaline he picked her up in his arms and jumped into the opening. He fell down into the darkness, holding Maewyn close to him.**

'**We're going to die.' he thought.**


	6. Chapter 6: Missing in Action

**Captain Kirk checked the time on his communicator, it was 15 minutes past the second arranged check in time and Chekov and Flynn had not yet checked in. He had tried to call both of their communicators, but they either weren't answering, or they weren't receiving the transmissions. It was highly unlikely that they had forgotten or lost track of time because Lieutenant Flynn was always punctual, especially with communications. Dr. McCoy was pacing back and forth kicking up clouds of sand. Kirk watched with a worried expression, wondering what was going through his friend's mind. **

"**Alright, we'd better go find them." Kirk announced, just as his communicator chirped. He flipped it open. "Yes, what is it Mr. Spock?"**

"**We just heard some sounds coming in the direction of the mountains. Explosions, they are getting nearer… Ah, I have just seen a cloud of smoke from the impact of an explosion. They are very near the base of the mountain, directly where Lieutenant Flynn and Chekov were headed." **

"**Acknowledged Mr. Spock. We will meet you at your coordinates."**

"**Jim, what are we going to do?" McCoy frantically inquired.**

"**Well Bones, first I want to see what's going on and then we can figure out what to do about it." Kirk sighed. He gave the doctor a supportive squeeze on the shoulder as they hurriedly made their way back. **

* * *

**They had landed on a soft and mossy floor of some sort of tunnel within the mountain. Chekov looked around, they were trapped in the cavern, the opening had been blocked by debris from the explosions. He could still hear and feel them rocking the mountainside. He dug around his belt and felt the emergency light. Activating it, he looked at Maewyn. Blue liquid dripped down her arm pooling on the floor of the cave. She must have gotten hit by the explosion. He ever so gently brushed her hair away to see the wound better, her eyelids fluttered a bit. Protruding from her arm was a shard of purple crystal. Cutting the tunic away he saw her entire arm was drenched in blue blood. He had to stop her from losing any more than she already had. Tearing a piece of his shirt he put pressure on the wound and tried to secure it,**

**Maewyn opened her eyes slowly, and groaned as she felt the pain. She tried to speak, but before she could say anything she was shushed by a very pale Chekov, who was attempting to wrap a bandage around her arm. **

"**Thank you, Pavel." she whispered.**

"**Shh…" he looked so worried. "don't move you have lost a lot of blood."**

**She slipped her uninjured hand into his. He leaned against the rock wall, watching her. Suddenly there was a noise from inside the cave, tiny points of light were moving towards them. They rapidly came closer and grew larger. Before he had time to think or move he was being dragged off by a string of light that was being emitted from a floating aqua orb. He fought it, tried to shoot it with his phaser but it just knocked it out of his hands, he looked back and saw Maewyn was surrounded by similar floating blue spheres. As he was dragged away from her he heard her scream in agony. He was suddenly blinded by a flash of white hot light, then he felt an intense pain as if his entire body was on fire, and he slipped into oblivion. **


	7. Chapter 7: Within You Without You

Maewyn forced her eyes open, seeing nothing but white. Sterile frightening white. She turned her head and saw she was in a small room. Trying to sit up she realized that she was held down . A sharp pain shot up her arm as she struggled against the restraints. Upon closer inspection the restraints turned out to be some sort of glowing strands of energy.

"Pavel?" she whispered hesitantly. Receiving no answer she sighed with trepidation. She tested the restraints again, but to no avail, she was held tightly down, unable to escape.

After a while, she heard a faint buzzing noise behind her. Swiftly floating through the air was a blue orb about a meter in diameter. It reminded her of ball lightning, seemingly composed of light or some other energy. Moving like a hummingbird it zoomed around the room before hovering directly above her chest. She studied it with mixed amusement and nervousness. Just when she began to think that it wasn't going to do anything but hover there, it abruptly plummeted down into her chest disappearing within her. Suddenly her heart felt as if it were being crushed by immense pressure from all sides, she screamed in agony as the feeling spread to all her internal organs. Never had she been so aware of her viscera as now, each pain drew a diagram in her mind of each organ affected. Now her muscles were contracting in spasms, arching her back from the table as clenching hands and feet pushed against the surface. Her teeth bared, she whimpered as the pain subsided by a few degrees, before continuing worse than before. The thing was taking control of her body away as it ravaged her insides. After about an hour the orb emerged again and left with a buzz.

Maewyn, drenched in a cold sweat, was hyperventilating with exhaustion and pain. Was this orb just torturing her? Or did it have some other purpose? She felt like she had been put through an industrial recycling compactor. She couldn't move at all, because it had stimulated her muscles to the point that she couldn't have moved even if she had wanted to. Her entire body was shaking involuntarily; tears pooled in her eyes running down the sides of her face, dripping off her nose and chin. Her tongue was swollen and her mouth was dry.

The aqua orb left her there for a half an hour, terrified and confused, before returning to hover over her as before. She stared at it with wide eyes whispering, asking what it wanted, why it was doing this to her, hoping for some sort of reaction. Instead, it came at her face and went within her skull. Pain like nothing she had ever felt before filled her senses, as if she were dying each second. She saw images flash in front of her, and she soon realized that the orb was looking through every piece of recorded thought in her brain. Images of the Enterprise, her pet frog her father had brought her from Earth, the first test she took at Saraswati University, kissing Leonard, falling asleep under a sky of stars, page 403 of Gray's Anatomy, taking a picture of a rare flower, dancing with Pavel, graphs of Phosphate levels, all these images were flooding her thoughts, overwhelming her. The thing was raping her mind, gleaning her entire being from her brain. Her eyes opened wide, the stress was causing her irises to vibrate so that she couldn't see. The anguish of mind and body was almost too much, she was beginning to slip. It was all she could do to hang on and not fall into insanity. She fought through another hour of this before the orb left her close to death. Blood was dripping from her nose and mouth down her face in streams, leaving dried trails of dark blue on her cheeks. She choked, trying to breathe with aching lungs.


	8. Chapter 8: Without a Trace

It had been three hours since they had arrived at the base of the mountain. The explosions had stopped before they had reached the area. There was no sign of Chekov or Flynn anywhere, just small craters, some still smoking when they had arrived. Dr. McCoy was climbing around trying to find any indication of where they had gone, and what had happened. Kirk was on his communicator with Scotty having him run various scans of the planet, and Spock had his tricorders out, attempting to scan the immediate area for clues.

"Scotty, what have you got so far?"

"Nothin'. Not a single point out a place."

"Alright, how about the deep subterranean scans?"

"Still workin' on it. These type a tests take quite some time."

"How soon can you have it ready, Scotty?"

"I'll contact ya as soon as I get the results."

"Fifteen minutes Scotty."

"I canna do it in fifteen minutes!"

"We need those tests Scotty."

"I'll give 'er me best Captain."

"I know you can do it Scotty, Kirk out." He flipped the communicator shut and walked over to Spock. "Anything?"

"Nothing."

"How could they just disappear? And why doesn't anything register on the scanners? Something had to cause those explosions."

"Very true." Spock muttered as he fiddled with the dials.

Lough and Cheng were searching along the ridge, just as Kirk looked up he saw something going towards them at a very high speed, something round floating about a meter from the ground. He called for McCoy and Spock and ran towards the two crewmen. He watched as the two figures turned to look at the thing coming towards them and drew their phasers. When it came closer the orb stopped and slowly circled them. The three officers were almost halfway to the two crewmen. Suddenly the orb shot out a bolt of energy that exploded as it hit the ground, knocking Lough and Cheng into the crater it had created. They disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and when Kirk reached the top of the ridge the orb was gone. McCoy jumped into the crater where Lough was holding Cheng in his arms. Scanning her, he turned to the Captain with a frown,

"She's dead, Jim." he stated grimly.

Lough stared blankly at the face of his dead crewmate, seemingly unsure of how to react.

"Bring her up to the ship." Kirk said softly. Lough nodded as Kirk flipped open his communicator.

"Scotty."

"Captain, it hasna been even ten minutes yet!" Scotty answered with slight annoyance evident in his voice.

"Cheng has been killed in action, I need you to beam up her and Lough."

"Oh," Scotty's voice softened. "I'll get them up right away."

"Thanks Scotty."

Kirk watched as Lough, holding Cheng in his arms, dematerialized. He wondered whether they had been very good friends, or lovers even, the way Lough had looked at her. The loss of any crewman was extremely hard on him, for as Captain he was responsible for the safety of each and every person on his ship.

"Apparently these beings are hostile." Spock stated.

"No kidding." McCoy grumbled

"Evidently they reacted the same way towards Flynn and Chekov. However, since we cannot find any trace of them, they may yet be alive." Spock continued, ignoring the doctor's comment.

"Let's hope so." Captain Kirk sighed worriedly, "Bones, how did it kill her?"

"Well it had to be some sort of high energy explosion, we saw the thing shoot something at them, even though the tricorder isn't picking up any readings of anything…No wait, hold on a minute." Leonard fiddled with the buttons. "No, I guess not. I thought I saw something, but it isn't reading anything at all" He was trying not to show how upset he was at the moment.

Spock cocked an eyebrow as he studied his own tricorder readings. "Captain, Doctor McCoy did indeed see something. There is a slight spike in the energy readings coming from where the explosion occurred. It is rapidly dissipating, which is why we did not find before. By the time we reached them, it had already gone."

Captain Kirk's communicator chirped and he flipped it open. "Kirk here."

"Scot here, Captain. I've just gotten the results from the deep subterranean scans…"

"Well, did you find anything?"

"Well, nothin' out a the ordinary, except…"

"What, except what Scotty?"

"Well, there were slightly higher levels of energy radiation within the mountains, but it's probably because of the composition of the rock."

"Can you find us a way in?"

"Inta where?"

"Inside the mountain where the energy is coming from."

"Alright give me but a moment…here we are, there's an openin about three miles from where ya are now, I'll send the exact coordinates."

"Thanks Scotty."

"Always glad ta help Captain."


	9. Chapter 9: Rescue

Underneath the mountain was a natural labyrinth of tunnels and corridors. They had been wandering along several dead ends when they heard a shrill high pitched noise.

"What was that?" the doctors face had turned pale.

"Easy Bones." Kirk clamped a hand onto his shoulder.

"I have located the direction of the origin of the noise." Spock suddenly seemed a bit perturbed.

"We'll follow you Spock." the captain was not at all happy with the thought of what that noise could be.

They hurriedly made their way through the tunnels now that they had a heading. They were getting closer to the noise which increased in volume and clarity. The sound could now be definitely identified as a scream of distressing intensity. Dr. McCoy was turning paler by the second as they headed toward the light ahead. What they reached was a wall of translucent amethyst, through which they saw a white room with two tables. On one was Chekov, apparently knocked out or dead. On the other was Maewyn, convulsing and clearly in intense pain as she arched off the table; her sonorous screams vibrating the amethyst crystals, producing a sharp eerie note. Suddenly they saw a blue orb zoom over to Chekov, hovering over him before plunging into his chest. He began to writhe and shriek in pain as well.

"What the hell is going on in there?" McCoy whispered, shocked.

"Nothing good. Phasers out." Kirk backed up from the window and the other two followed suit. Aiming their weapons at the crystal wall they shot, knocking a hole which they jumped through at once. The piercing screams of the two being tortured hit them like a palpable wall. Suddenly Maewyn stopped screaming abruptly as the orb shot out of her chest and spun around the new arrivals. The other orb left Chekov to join its counterpart.

Maewyn had turned her head towards them, eyes wide, her blood soaked lips moving soundlessly. The orbs still circled them, but so far had not tried to attack them. Leonard took a step towards Maewyn, the orbs didn't react. He took another step, still no reaction. He walked over to her side, they simply floated around the perimeter of the room. Looking down at her he saw the blood running down her face and arm, green bruising covering her skin. He leaned close to her as she whispered,

"Leonard…" she struggled to speak, "…energy…no…can…no…rocks". She choked and blood dripped down her lips.

"Shh." he ran the medical tricorder over her and turned to Spock. "What's she talking about?"

Spock silently walked over to her and placed a hand on her face, mind melding with her. He started shaking, his knees buckling, tears welling up in his eyes as he sputtered words,

"No…no…pain…falling…can't hold on…why?…data…illogical… help… darkness…orbs…no energy…crystal structure…too fragile… collapse… Spock… understand?…" Spock broke away, shaking, wiping the tears from his eyes and regaining his composure. "Yes." He turned to Kirk, "Captain, they cant use any damaging energy in here because of the fragile structure of the crystals, any disruption and the entire cavity could collapse. Also, they have very little energy left because of what they have been doing to her, and they had just started on Chekov."

Kirk walked over to Chekov and putting his phaser on the lowest setting, shot the control box on the wall, shutting down the restraints. Chekov rolled over, holding his stomach and grimacing. Dr. McCoy gently picked Maewyn up in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder as her tears and blood soaked into his shirt.

"Darling," he whispered in her ear as he felt her struggling to breathe "hold on just a little longer, just a little bit longer."

"We'll have to force it to collapse so that they can't follow us" Kirk said as he eyed the orbs circling them.

Maewyn slowly looked up to the ceiling fighting with her own body to make any sort of movement. "Keystone…" she whispered in Leonard's ear.

"She just said keystone about the ceiling." the doctor told them.

"Yes, one of those crystals is the trigger to cause the entire structure to collapse." Spock stated turning on the tricorder. "That slightly pink one on the far right, when destroyed, would allow a 10 second delay before triggering a reaction."

"Alright, Spock you lead them out, I'll keep these two in here and trigger the implosion." Kirk waved them away.

"Captain I would like to volunteer myself in your place…" Spock began.

"…No Spock. Now stop wasting time and get moving." Kirk cut him off.

"Very well."

They began to make their way towards the hole they had blasted in the wall as the orbs became more agitated and sped up. After they were all out and on their way Kirk flipped one of the tables on its side and blocked the orbs from escaping. He noticed that there were now three orbs circling the room. Soon there were five. He took careful aim at the trigger crystal and carefully squeezed the trigger. He hit it dead center, jumping behind the table he blocked the orbs inside and ran down the tunnel. Seconds later a grinding, crashing, rumbling cacophony filled the mountain. The group had made it outside the mountain, Kirk leaped out just as the entire tunnel collapsed.

"That was wery agile of you sir." Chekov piped up. "I could almost swear you had Russian ancestors."

"Well, you seem to be feeling fine at any rate." Dr. McCoy grumbled.

Captain Kirk just rolled his eyes and flipped out his communicator, "Kirk to Enterprise"

"Enterprise, Scot here."

"Five to beam up."

"Yes Captain! Right away!" his relief evident in his voice. "Energizing."


	10. Chapter 10: True Blue Bloods

"What happened to 'er?" Scotty worriedly asked after they had materialized.

Kirk began to narrate their adventures and what they knew of what had happened to Maewyn, with Spock intermittently interjecting with his own observations. Dr McCoy, gently cradling her in his arms, quickly made his way to sickbay. The crewmembers that he passed gave him concerned looks, and asked what had happened. He absently muttered that they would know later on, and hurried past, inhaling the scent of her hair as she buried her face in his shoulder. When he reached sickbay he gently placed her on the exam table as Nurse Chapel hurried in.

"Dr. McCoy?" she paused as he turned to her with a pained expression. "You'll be needing my help?"

He nodded and she began to prepare the equipment. Suddenly he felt a cold hand on his cheek. Maewyn's twitching fingers slipped higher on his temple as he leaned down towards her. Like vines reaching out, he felt her mind entwine itself with his, all her thoughts came swirling in. She showed him what had happened to her, why they had done it. They were simply curious, and like humans do the first time they encounter a previously unknown lower form of life, they had simply begun experimenting and examining. To them humanoids were no more than ants, beings incapable of thought or awareness, driven by instinct. No matter how hard she had tried she could not communicate with them, could not convey her feelings or thoughts. Like a lab rat she was but a subject to study, nothing more.

Her mind broke from his as her hand fell from his face, she closed her eyes, exhausted. The lights on the panel began to flash, she had lost too much blood over the course of everything that had happened.

"Damn it!" the doctor swore angrily. Where was he supposed to get blood that was anything like hers? Her blood didn't have red blood cells with hemoglobin, her blood contained hemocyanin, copper based, the same type of blood as…..

"That's it!" He ran to the communicator wall panel. "Sickbay to Aquatic Biology Lab."

"Bio Lab 4, Ensign Trotsky here."

"When was the last time you bled the limuli for LAL?"

"What, the horseshoe crabs? About five months ago."

"How many have you got down there?"

"Oh, about….thirty mature."

"That should be fine. Do you think you could bleed them again right now?"

"Well, sir, they can be bled up to three times a year…and they've only been bled once this year…but…"

"Well then get to it ensign, you'll be saving the life of the head of your department!"

"Lieutenant Flynn? What happened to her?"

"Never mind that, get on with it ensign! Oh, and don't put it through the centrifuge either, I need the whole blood, not just the LAL."

"Yes sir, right away sir."

He clicked off the communicator and walked back to Maewyn's bedside, gently taking her hand, "Well my dear, you are to be the first in medical history to receive a blood transfusion from a living fossil."


	11. Chapter 11: Captain's Comfort

When Captain Kirk stopped by Medical Bay the next day to see how everything was going, he found Doctor McCoy sitting at the computer in his office. As he slowly walked in he saw a half empty bottle of whiskey sitting next to a shot glass that still had a bit of liquid residue in the bottom.

"Bones," he began as the doctor tore his eyes away from the computer screen. Seeing that the captain was looking at the recently opened bottle of liquor, he sighed,

"Jim, I don't need another one of your little speeches about drinking while on duty."

"I wasn't going to give you anything of the kind. In fact," at this point he brought out an unopened bottle of Romulan Ale from behind his back, " I thought you probably needed something."

Kirk placed the bottle on the desk as Leonard gave him a little smirk. Leaning back against the chair he sighed heavily and folded his arms. Kirk sat down, and eyed his friend for a few seconds.

"How is she?"

"Well Jim, she's still alive, barely. She's lost a lot of blood. I took a big risk with giving her a transfusion from the limulus. There are a lot of issues with internal hemorrhaging, the LAL in the limulus blood might help a little with clotting. Thank god for modern medicine or…" his voice trailed off and he buried his face in his hands, leaning his elbows on the desk.

"Here Bones, have another drink." Jim pushed the glass of sapphire liquid towards him.

Leonard looked up and gingerly lifted the offered glass to his lips, taking a small sip.

"So, what exactly happened with you two after the lab incident?" Jim asked curiously.

Leonard sighed heavily, running his fingers through his hair, wondering what to say. Finally, after a few more sips of ale, he leaned back and looked hard and long at the captain.

"I love her, Jim." he stated, "I know it sounds ridiculous, even I think it does. After the divorce I decided that love didn't exist. Now I'm not talking belief in fairytale-true-love. I mean I stopped believing in the emotion itself. Through medical and scientific thinking I was able to bring myself to the conclusion that love does not exist, that a chemical imbalance causes heightened hormones levels to trigger the carnal instinct." he paused suddenly, "Damn it, I sound just like that green-blooded friend of yours."

At this Kirk simply smiled, he knew that deep down the two liked each other, though they both did their utmost best not to show it.

"Well, that kind of thinking is wrong. Human emotion isn't just chemical imbalance, its something more. It comes from ourselves, our spirit, our…soul or whatever you want to call it. The living essence of awareness."

Jim Kirk eyed his friend, he had heard many things come out of the doctors mouth, but nothing like this before.

"Have another drink?" Jim offered him another glass.

"I don't think so…" he shook his head slowly. "I don't even understand how she could be even a little bit attracted to a cranky old man like me. Such an intelligent, beautiful young woman like her, she could have any man on the ship she pleased."

"Oh, come on Bones, you're not that old."

The doctor cocked an eyebrow at this and frowned, "Don't try to coddle me, I know exactly how old I am, and Terran humans only live an average of a hundred or so years."

"I take it you're going to disagree with everything I say as usual then?"

"Probably."

"Well, I only stopped by to see how things were going, carry on doctor." Kirk smiled and got up to leave.

"Jim." Leonard called after him. The captain turned, "Thanks, Jim….. Thanks a lot." he said with sincerity.

"Anytime." Kirk smiled.


	12. Chapter 12: Lost and Found

Dr. McCoy was on his way to get dinner from the mess hall, when he was nearly knocked over by a fairly drunk Chekov.

"Oh, I'm wery sorry sir." he sputtered as lay sprawled on the floor.

"What's the matter with you ensign? You alright?" he peered down at him, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm alright, sir. Just a little too much wodka."

"I can tell…Is that lipstick all over your face?" he had suddenly noticed that Chekhov's face was covered in bright red lip marks.

"Oh… erm… I don't know sir." he mumbled as the rest of his face turned just as red. He hastily rubbed his face on his sleeve.

"Hmm… you should probably go lie down you know."

"Yes, sir." he stumbled away down the hallway.

"What the hell is it with that kid?" McCoy mumbled to himself as he continued on his way, thinking back to when Chekov had given him that death glare.

After grabbing a bite to eat he walked back to sickbay, thinking about everything. Lost in thought, he reached sickbay and headed straight for his office. Before he reached the doorway however, he was startled by a soft whispering voice calling out his name. Turning swiftly he practically sprinted across the room to Maewyn's bedside. Her bright green eyes smiled up at him as he took her hand in his.

"Leonard." she whispered again.

"Shh…" he looked up at the panel, all her functions were correct, her breathing regular, her blood levels back to normal. Smiling he kissed her hand, "You're almost completely well again!"

He carefully removed the oxygen mask on her face, and she breathed in easily, her chest rising and falling. Maewyn sighed, smiling, the dark bruises on her skin reminded him vaguely of the pattern on the coat of a taxidermy snow leopard he had once seen at a museum. She reached out towards him, grasping his shoulders. Cradling her in his arms he softly kissed her cheek, gently stroking her hair, holding her to him as if she were a fragile porcelain doll.

"I'm alright, I'm fine." she whispered to him.

"You damn well better be."

"I am." she laughed.


End file.
